coronationstreetfandomcom-20200215-history
VHS and DVD releases of Coronation Street
There have been numerous episodes of Coronation Street released on the VHS and DVD home video formats. 1980s The Magic Of Coronation Street In 1982 Granada released a VHS video entitled 'The Magic Of Coronation Street - Distant Memories 1960-1964. Running at 172 minutes, it featured six episodes of the programme, along with specially-filmed sequences featuring Annie Walker, Len Fairclough and Elsie Tanner. Later on, 'The Magic Of Coronation Street' was reissued as two seperate videos, each featuring three episodes, by Vestron Video. The Jubilee Years In 1985, Vestron Video marked the show's 25th anniversary by releasing two VHS tapes entitled 'The Jubilee Years - Part One' and 'The Jubilee Years - Part Two'. These featured a previously unseen character named Alice Hughes revisiting Coronation Street, remembering old characters, and catching up with current Street residents Ken Barlow, Deirdre Barlow, Hilda Ogden and Betty Turpin. The Lives And Loves Of Elsie Tanner This video tape was released in 1987, and featured the characters Linda Cheveski (Elsie's daughter), Emily Bishop and Mike Baldwin recalling Elsie's time on the Street. The production hints that Elsie has died, despite this being an event that has never been referred to in the actual series. Pat Phoenix, who played Elsie, had passed away the previous year. 1990s 30th Anniversary Set In 1990, ten VHS tapes were released by Windsong Video Productions to mark the show's 30th anniversary. Each tape featured four episodes from a specific year and was introduced by a character who was heavily featured in the stories of that year (for example, Cyril Turpin died in 1974, therefore Betty Driver, who played his wife Betty Turpin, introduced the 1974 tape). Originally only a UK release, these tapes were reissued on the NTSC VHS format a year later for viewing in North America. Time Life Releases Mail-order company Time Life Distribution produced numerous VHS tapes in the 1990s for UK release. Each tape consisted of a compilation of footage of a certain character. These videos were never released in North America. 2000s This Is Coronation Street In 2003, a 2-disc DVD titled 'This Is Coronation Street' was released for the Region 1 market. It featured a special marking 40 years of the Street, aswell as the first five episodes of the programme. Network DVD Box-Sets Network DVD have released a series of DVD box-sets that cover the first three decades of the programme. Each box-set contains ten discs, which in turn feature eight of the most memorable episodes from each year of the decade. The 1970s DVDs can be purchased seperately. 1960s The 1960s box set was released on July 31, 2006. 1970s The 1970s box set was released on 25 July, 2005 1980s The 1980s box set was released on 14 November 2005. Spin-Offs and Straight To Video Releases Granada have released a number of straight-to-video spin-off episodes and specials, the majority of which ended uup being screened on television after having been available in shops for some time. The first straight-to-video episode was released in 1995 and featured a storyline set aboard the QE2. The television broadcast courted controversy as Granada had previously claimed that this episode would never be seen on ITV. Subsequent home video releases included carefully-worded disclaimers pertaining to future television broadcast. Another special set in Las Vegas was released in 1999, called 'Viva Las Vegas!'. Written by Coronation Street fan Russell T. Davies, it featured a cameo appearance from actor Neville Buswell, who had given up his long-time role in the programmer as Ray Langton 21 years earlier.